


the thanksgiving special

by WattStalf



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Divorce, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Thanksgiving, concept based on a joke, read the author note or it doesnt make sense, vaguely cracky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 09:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8527921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: Rick finds himself spending a lot of time with his son's girlfriend's father during their Thanksgiving dinner.





	

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY SO  
> I've been working on this for ages, and I was gonna save it for Thanksgiving but here, an early Thanksgiving special.  
> ANYWAY WHY THIS RIDICULOUS CONCEPT?  
> Well, okay, way back before Negan had a backstory and before anyone knew what was gonna happen between him and Alpha, people tried to speculate. I saw one post proposing the idea of Alpha being Lucille, implying she and Negan had been in a relationship pre-ZA. Of course, even at the time that seemed a little farfetched, and was quickly disproven, but it made me think about the fact that that would have made Negan Lydia's father. So I made the remark, "Wouldn't that be an awkward thanksgiving dinner?"  
> So, here it is. A no-zombie AU where Rick is Carl's single father, and Carl invites his girlfriend and her family over to Thanksgiving dinner. To make things easy on myself, I gave Alpha the name Aly, cos I don't think she was ever given a name??? Anyway, yeah, this isn't to be taken seriously, this was just for fun.

It wasn't the first time Rick had met Negan, though he had really, really hoped that the name would just turn out to be a coincidence. He knew that it was unlikely, but when it comes time to meet the parents of your son's first girlfriend, you tend to hope that her father isn't the same man known for getting a little too rowdy on the weekends, and subsequently getting into bar fights that the cops, Rick included, often needed to break up.

The other man wasn't necessarily aggressive, just loud and obnoxious and not one to back down, should someone try to pick a fight with him. Maybe he wasn't even that bad of a guy, but Rick did not have a stellar opinion of him, and when it came time to meet Lydia's father, he'd hoped against all hopes that it wasn't the same Negan. But it was, and Rick learned to prefer the times when the girl stayed with her mother. Her parents were separated, but she saw them just about equally.

And then it came time for Thanksgiving, and Carl came to him, asking if Lydia and her parents could come over for dinner. “It's just us very year,” he'd complained, “and they don't have any family in town. It'd be perfect.”

“Which parent would she bring?” asked Rick, dreading the answer.

“Well, it's kinda weird, but since they just split up this past year...they said they wanted to try it with both of them,” he said, looking sheepish. Carl knew exactly how his father felt about Negan, and knew he was asking a lot by asking this. And Rick knew that he was going to regret it if he agreed to it, but he also knew how much this meant to Carl, and the more he thought about it, the more he knew that his decision had already been made.

~X~

“Nice fucking place you've got here.” Negan had been to their house before. Several times, in fact, and he said the same thing every time. Rick still wasn't sure how he felt about the way he openly swore around his daughter. Lydia's mother, who went by Aly- though Rick didn't know what it was short for- didn't say anything about it, however, and Rick let the three of them in.

He had done most of the cooking; he had gotten somewhat good at it since his wife had passed away and he had tried to give Carl a good holiday, even though the two of them would be alone. This would be the first year they had anyone else over, and the other family had brought some food as well and he showed them where to put it on the dining room table.

“It's not all done yet,” said Rick, “so you guys can do whatever you want while you wait. The TV's in the next room.” Negan looked pleased to hear that, heading off to watch football, whereas Aly followed Rick to the kitchen. Carl and Lydia disappeared upstairs, and Rick listened to make sure that they left Carl's bedroom door open, one of the rules required for having Lydia up there.

“You don't have to help me,” he said, when they had reached the kitchen, but she waved a hand.

“No, no, I insist,” she replied. “You're having us over and you've done a lot already. And, truth be told, I'd rather not spend my afternoon listening to him yell at the TV. But if you'd like to go watch the game, I don't mind finishing things up in here...”

Rick was torn about what he should do. He _did_ have an interest in the game, and he could tell that Aly didn't want him hanging around while she did things her way, but he also wasn't so sure if he wanted to watch the game with Negan either. It wasn't as if he was friends with the man, or had any intention of becoming friends with him, but there weren't many other options. Carl would not be thrilled at the idea of his father hanging out with him and his girlfriend, after all, and so, Rick went to join Negan on the couch.

“She kick you out of the kitchen?” he asked with a knowing grin.

“I figured if she really wanted to do things herself, I might as well let her,” replied Rick, unsure of what to say. The two of them were on good terms, but they were still recently divorced; the whole arrangement was strange to him, and he didn't know if it was appropriate to joke about Aly's personality or if that would be a sensitive subject for Negan.

“She can be a fucking hassle,” the other man said, “but she gets shit done. Isn't anybody in the world who gets more shit done than her.”

“You two are...” Rick started to speak, but trailed off. He really had no idea where to go in a conversation like this.

“She can't stand me,” he said, with a wave of his hand. “Never could, but you know how it is when you're young. We were fucking crazy about each other, and then we were crazy about fucking each other, and then along came Lydia. But you can't make a marriage work on fuck all forever, you know?”

“I think it's nice that you're trying to get along. You know, for Lydia's sake.”

“It's not just for her. Don't get me wrong, I think I'd do it for her no matter what, but I don't have anything against Aly. I know I'm a fucking hand full, and I appreciate the effort she put into putting up with me for this long. And even now, she's still putting up with me even though we've called it quits.”

Rick tried to think of where to steer the conversation from that point on, unsure of why he was even trying so hard, when Negan let out a loud shout, leaning in closer to the TV and encouraging one of the players as if they could hear him. He was leaning so far forward that Rick couldn't even see the game, only the outline of Negan's frame against the glow of the screen, and shook his head when he realized he was staring.

Sitting back and giving up on watching the game, Rick wondered if he should check on Aly. She had only just banished him, but he was a little bit weirded out by the way his eyes kept drifting back to the other man, and he wondered if it would be better to make his escape before he started to question it. However, Negan leaned back after a moment, sighing.

“This team fucking sucks,” he muttered. “Don't know why I'm such a big fan. Of course, I'm not so into it that I'll try to beat the ever loving fuck out of anyone who supports their rival, you know?” He nudged Rick with a laugh. “Come on, you know who I'm talking about, those assholes you're always busting my ass over. But, look, I'm not gonna let any stupid fucks try to fight me and get away with it.”

Rick actually laughed, shaking his head. “Well, it'd make my job a little easier if you did.”

“Maybe, or maybe not. Your ass would still get called out there, except _my_ ass might be beaten to a fucking pulp cos I sat there like a pussy,” Negan replied. “I don't think there's much of anything that could make a job like yours easier.”

“What do you do for a living?” he asked, realizing for the first time that he didn't actually know much about this man, despite always having such strong opinions about him.

“I teach,” he said. “Phys ed at the junior high. I used to just coach little league, but I got a real teaching job last year.”

Rick was more than a little surprised to hear about that. He only knew Negan as the foul mouthed man who got into bar fights, and trying to picture him dealing with kids was nearly impossible. And yet, when he talked about his job, he got this look on his face, this sincere sort of smile, that told Rick that, not only was he telling the truth, but he loved his job quite a bit. There was, he realized, more to this man than met the eye, but to think that felt incredibly cliché, and it wasn't as if he was developing an interest in his son's girlfriend's father based on a single conversation.

But there wasn't really any other way to think of it, as the afternoon drug on. Their small talk turned into a real conversation, and they shared stories about their jobs, laughing about the ridiculous things they had done and seen. Occasionally, they could draw comparisons between experiences, and it amused them both to no end that a cop and a gym coach could deal with, essentially, the same sort of people.

Eventually, Rick knew that he had to tear himself away from the room and return to the kitchen, and apologized to Aly for leaving her by herself for long, despite the fact that it had been at her insistence. She brushed him off, and then immediately set him to work, and the two of them were able to get dinner set up beautifully in the dining room. He called for Carl and Lydia while Negan came in and commented on how great it all looked, and then the family- or whatever they were; Rick wasn't sure what to call this arrangement of people- sat down to dinner.

It might have been more awkward of a meal, it weren't for the fact that- or maybe it _was_ more awkward of a meal _because_ of the fact that- Negan kept up conversation just as he had when he and Rick had been alone, doing his best to include everyone. Rick was a little put off by how often he swore even around the kids, but at the same time, they weren't exactly kids anymore, and that was a subject he liked to avoid thinking about whenever possible.

What was most noticeable to him was that there was an _honesty_ about the man, that he didn't seem to ever be anything but himself, regardless of the situation. Whether or not that was always a good thing was debatable, but there was something to be admired in that. Negan was more than what Rick had originally thought he was, and yet he was exactly what Rick originally thought he was. He didn't know what he was supposed to think of the man, but when he saw the way he interacted with Carl and the way Carl seemed to like him, it really made him wonder.

“Alright,” said Negan with a heavy sigh, once they had all agreed that they were much too full to keep eating. “Since I put zero fucking effort into this meal, I guess it's only fitting I volunteer myself to do the dishes.”

“I'll help you,” Lydia offered, but Carl was quick to interrupt her.

“You're a guest,” he said. “Don't worry about, I'll help him instead.” Rick considered pointing out the fact that Negan was a guest as well, but instead, he decided to cut his son some slack.

“No, no, you two can go hang out. _I'll_ help him,” he said.

“And _I_ can finally relax,” added Aly, before heading off to watch TV for herself. Rick didn't have the heart to remind her that she had been the one to insist on taking over the cooking. Carl and Lydia headed back upstairs, leaving Rick and Negan alone once more. For a little while, silence reigned over the dining room as they set to gathering the dishes and carrying them to the kitchen, and while Rick set to getting the leftovers packaged, Negan started washing the dishes.

“So,” said the other man, finally breaking the silence. “That was only a little weird, right?”

“What? The dinner?” asked Rick.

“Yeah. I mean, it's the first Thanksgiving since me and Aly decided to split, for one thing, but I think we did a good job being fucking decent parents, right? And, I mean, it's gotta be weird, with both our kids and all, but I don't think it was _too_ weird. Am I right?” he asked.

“Not _too_ weird,” Rick agreed, a slight smile playing at his lips. “The two of you did a great job. Lydia's really lucky.”

“That right?” Negan chuckled to himself, and there was another long pause. Over the space of the afternoon and evening, Rick had begun to think of this man as his friend, which was not something he ever would have expected. More than that, he never would have expected to uncover so many interesting things about him, or to catch his thoughts wandering in certain directions, and whenever it was quiet enough for him to get lost in thought, he wasn't sure _what_ to think.

When the dishes were mostly done, Negan finally spoke up to say, “Once this is over with, we should probably head out. Gotta drop them off at home before I can get to my place and pass the fuck out, you know? Before that, I got a question.”

“What's that?”

“Well, I know I was all happy about this not being too weird and all, but I was wondering. Just how absolutely, fucking mind-blowingly weird would it be if I gave you my number? I mean, considering our kids are going out and my ex-wife is in the next room? I'm just asking.” There was a cheeky grin on his face and his eyes betrayed the laughter he was holding back, and yet his question was still a serious one.

And Rick was not sure that he had an answer.

 


End file.
